You can go online and find a site, type in a word and receive an instant translation. What does it mean? I never asked Red Schoendienst about the origin of his last name. I knew Red was of German heritage, so I found a German to English conversion site and typed in “Schoendienst.”

The answer:

Beautiful service.

Oh, but of course. Beautiful service. That describes Red’s baseball life. It was enduring, sturdy and impressive for its scale and longevity. The roots were deep and wide and grew in all directions, making Red Schoendienst one of the most historically connected men in baseball history. And I’ll get to that part of his extraordinary career a bit later in this piece.

When Schoendienst died on Wednesday at age 95, St. Louis Cardinals fans were saddened by the news and maybe even a little surprised. Red wasn’t a young man, but he never looked like an old man. Remarkably youthful as he moved around the ballpark hitting fungoes and having...